this is "way too early." it offered romney a chance to refocus in front of a huge audience. romney challenged the president's economic leadership in a civil debate heavy on substance. president obama appeared more subdued, offering extensive policy details holding back attacks he used on romney on the campaign trail. the president left out the frequent attack about mr. romney's 47% comments. a cnn opinion research poll taken after the debate shows 67% of registered voters believe mitt romney had a better night. 25% said president obama. a cbs poll says 46% of uncommitted voters said romney had the stronger performance. 22% said it was the president. the headline in this mornings usa today, romney seizes offense

on obama's record. romney takes fight to obama. after a handshake in the middle of the stage and talk of the president's 20th wedding anniversary, they got down to business with details on taxes and debt and what is best for this country's middle class. >> this is where there's a difference because governor romney's plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of the bush tax cuts and military spending that the military hasn't asked for. it's $8 trillion. how we pay for that, reduce the deficit and make the investments we need to make without dumping those costs on to middle class americans is one of the central questions to this campaign. >> under the president's policies, middle income americans are buried. they are being crushed. their income has come down by $4,300. this is a tax in and of itself.

call it the economy tax. it's been crushing. at the same time, gasoline prices doubled. electric rates are up, food prices are up. health care costs have gone up by $2500 a family. middle income families are being crushed. the question is how to get them going again. >> governor romney defended his tax plan repeatedly. the romney proposal would give breaks to the wealthy while putting a burden on the middle class. >> i know you and your running mate keep saying that. it's popular, but it's not the case. i have five boys. i'm used to people saying something that's not always true but keep on repeating it hoping i'll believe it. that is not the case. i will not reduce the taxes paid by high income americans. number three, i will not, under any circumstances raise taxes on middle income families. >> for 18 months, he's been

running on this tax plan. now, five weeks before the election, he's saying his idea is never mind. the fact is that if you are lowering the rates the way you describe, governor, then it is not possible to come up with enough deductions and loophole that is only affect high income individuals to avoid either raising the deficit or burdening the middle class. it's math. it's arithmetic. >> on the subject of entitlements, they clashed on the health care program for seniors which is popular, but costly. they are talking act medicare. >> i think it's important for governor romney to present the plan that will only affect folks in the future. the essence of the plan is that he would turn medicare into a voucher program. it's called premium support, but understood to be a voucher program. >> you don't support that?

>> i don't. let me explain why. >> again, that's for future, not current retirees. >> if you are 54 or 55, you might want to listen. >> i can't understand how you can cut medicare $716 billion for current recipients of medicare. you point out, we are putting some back, we are going to give them a better prescription program. it's $1 for every $15 you cut. they are smart enough to know it's not a good trade. >> when the subject moved to health care, mr. romney was first to point out the reforms he signed into law in massachusetts was something he shied away from in the past. the president could come into office facing 23 million people out of work, an economic crisis at the kitchen table and spent his energy and passion fighting for obama care instead of jobs for the american people. it has killed jobs. the best course for health care

is to do what we did in my state, craft a plan that fits the needs of the state, then let's focus on getting the costs down for people rather than raising it with the $2,500 additional premium. >> the irony is we have seen this model work really well, in massachusetts. because governor romney did a good thing, working with democrats in the state to set up what is essentially the identical model and people are covered there. it hasn't destroyed jobs and as a consequence, we now have a system in which we have the opportunity to bring down costs as opposed to leaving millions of people out in the cold. >> mr. romney was the most aggressive of the two and did not mind interrupting the

moderator. >> jim, the president began this segment, so i think i get the last word. >> he gets the first word, i get the last word. let me make this happen. i'm sorry, i'm going to stop the subsidy to pbs. i like big bird. i'm not going to keep spending on things from china to pay for it. if that's the case, it will be the best product to purchase. my experience is the private sector is typically able to provide a product at a lower cost. >> can the two of you agree, the voters have a clear choice on medicare? >> absolutely. let's mention the other one. >> let's not. >> the last point i would make before -- >> ten minutes is up, sir. >> i had five seconds before he interrupted me -- >> joining us to sort through

the debate, the executive editor of politico, jim van dehide. thanks for waking up early. cnn viewers, 67% of them said mitt romney had a better night. what is your view after watching it? >> there's no doubt mitt romney had the night of his political night. he had to have the night he had last night. i can't think of a debate in the 20 years covering this where the gap between the two candidates was this wide. mitt romney turned in a strong performance and the president turned in an uneven performance. the disparity led to a perception that president obama lost the debate. if you look at the commentary, not from the right, but people who love barack obama, almost every one of them, every pundit

was saying that he lost. some saying he lost decisively. some saying he lost so badly, it could cost him the election. to me, it's hyperbolic. it speaks to the fact mitt romney changed the narrative of the campaign. >> what does it mean, jim, for mitt romney. if we accept he won the night last night, how does he make it about more than one night and a turning point in the campaign? >> i can't emphasize how big last night was for mitt romney. you have to view it from the mitt romney that came into the debate. conservatives were down on him. his staff were down on him. donors were reluctant to give money to him. most thought he had no opportunity to win the race. he comes out of the debate as somebody who reassured conservatives. his biggest critics are applauding him. the donors are excited again. republicans will gather around him. he has a week or two of positive

coverage. he's not going to have conservatives belly aching from the sidelines about his performance. he has a chance to reinvent himself. he has to continue the reinvention. last night is not enough. he needs to be able to use ads, speeches, other moments to amplify another romney than the romney most voters have seen in ads over three months. >> it's been four years sincesi debate stage. he hasn't had a face-to-face since he's been president of the united states. is this what we saw four years ago or did he have a bad night? >> i think he had a bad night. it took his staff ten minutes to get to the spin room to talk about the result. they were trying to figure out how do we? should we be candid?

stylistically, it wasn't a great night for him. he wasn't crisp in his responses. he had a more difficult time than mitt romney defending and describing his policies. if you want to give, you know, give the president his due, you have to step back and understand mitt romney has spent two months every night rehearsing every answer for this very moment. he practiced hours and hours and hours. did multiple, literally double digit rehearsals to be able to practice f ts moment. the president has to be the president and a candidate. he didn't have as much prep time. he has tremendous self-confidence. some think he had too much. he thought he could walk on, play it safe and it backfired. >> we'll see what happens from here. that's what matters. we'll talk to you in a few minutes on morning show.

you can tweet me@willie geist. still ahead on "way too early" the oakland as finish off one of the most remarkable comebacks. 13 games behind texas, the as popping champaign yesterday. highlights from the last day of the season. president obama and mitt romney went through intention preparation for the debate as jim said. jon stewart as a debate of his own. he got bizarre help from his trainer, steven colbert. that's when we come back. ♪ take it, take another little piece of my heart now baby ♪ ♪ break it ♪ break another bit of my heart ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego.

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5:44 in the morning. beautiful live picture. the fog cleared out from the united states capital building in washington. let's get a check of the weather with bill karins. >> from d.c. and areas of new england, a few spots of fog. not like yesterday morning. the worst weather in the country, a snowstorm on october 4th in areas of north dakota and passing in northwestern sections of minnesota. areas of grand forks and fargo could get six inches of snow. it's significant. many of those places probably have school cancellations and delays. warm on the east east. 73 in d.c. look at the cold air in denver, 37 this morning. it will make its way to the east coast sunday. the forecast for today, on and off showers and thunderstorms for new england. wet weather today.

anywhere from new york city northwards will see the worst of it. beautiful from dallas to new orleans. everyone enjoy the warmth while it lasts. willie, we are looking at areas, even d.c., today, mid-80s, by sunday, a chance of rain and upper 50s. >> really? >> yeah. big changes on the way for the weekend. >> fall is here? >> tomorrow could be 80 to 85 and sunny. >> all right. thanks so much. let's turn to sports now. oakland as were 13 games behind the rangers. last night, they found themselves after 161 games of this season tied at top of the standings. setting up a finale in oakland, tied at five in the fourth, two on, two out. get it done. looks like a routine fly ball. josh hamilton not getting it done. two runs come home to score on

the error. they are now trailing, 7-5. ninth inning, the final out of the game and the celebration is on. the comeback is complete. as win, 12-5, take the division title. an incredible story. they join the 2006 twins and 1951 giants whose lone day on top was the final day of the division. rangers spent 178 days in first place. forget the debate, the front page of the san francisco chronicle is all about the as, how the west is won. it took the 162nd and final game to decide two more games. yankees could clinch the a.l. east. second inning, yankees down a run. granderson puts the yankees on

top with a towering three-run shot. 3-1, thank you dice kay. one of two home runs. he finishes the season with 43, one shy of cabrera's. two-run shot into the second deck. one of two for him in the game. that puts the yankees up, 5-1. dice kay, 2 1/3 runs. baltimore lost, 4-1. the yankees are the division champs. party continues for the yankees. they win 14-2. they clinch their 13th a.l. east title of 17 years. even if you have been there for the shower of champaign, it never gets old. each making their return to the playoffs after an 11-year drought. here is the postseason. as and tigers rallied late to win. they will meet in the a.l. division series. the os and rangers have a one

game playoff. the two wild card teams. the winner of that comes to new york. national league, giants and reds start saturday. rays and cardinals meet at 5:00 on friday. the winner of that game goes to d.c. to play the nats. cabrera made it official last night. won the 12th triple crown since the rbi became an official stat. the first since 1967. cabrera ended with a .330 batting average, 139 rbis. the first player of latin decent to win the triple crown. they call his accomplishment miggnificent. we'll get an exclusive interview with chris christie to see what he thought. when we come back, we'll huddle

around the water cooler. stuart v. o riley and steven colbert. "way too early" coming right back. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy...

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20 years ago, i became the luckiest man on earth because michelle obama agreed to marry me. i just want to wish, sweetie,

you happy anniversary. a year from now, we will not be celebrating it in front of all these people. >> congratulations to you on your anniversary. i'm sure this is the most romantic place you can imagine being, here with me. >> taking the stage torgt for the first time in the campaign. early projections say 60 million americans tuned in to watch the first of three presidential debates. tell your friends the most watched presidential debate of all time came when 97 million people tuned in to watch the debate between george h.w. bush and bill clinton. the second debate between clinton and bob dole in 1996 with 36.3 million viewers. as president obama and mitt romney went head-to-head explaining their tax plans, there was one name that came up

in both of their answers. >> governor romney says the top 3% are the job creators burdened. under gov romney's definitions, there are a bunch of millionaires and bill nars. donald trump is a small business, i know he doesn't like to think he's small anything but that's how you define small business. >> the reality is, it's not just donald trump you are taxing. it's all the businesses that employ one quarter of workers in america, the small businesses taxed as individuals. >> you are surprised to know mr. trump reacted on twitter. he said as a big job creator, i was greatly honored to have been mentioned twice during the debate. donald trump. let's turn to another political debate. jon stewart v. bill o riley.

he called in stephven colbert. he was brought in by two shirtless handlers to get him ready for the showdown. >> jon, you are in worse shape than i thought. i have to take it to another level. full emersion. fetch me fletcher carlson. >> what? >> i'm going to release this chicken. gorgeous, american into your studio. you must catch it. >> oh, okay. all right. once i catch the chicken, i'm ready to debate. >> no. no, jon. first you catch the chicken, then you must use the chicken to

wax a car. wax on -- wax off. >> so, after i use the chicken to wash your car -- >> yes. >> am i ready? >> no. not even close. to defeat bill o'reilly you must catch the bird, wax my car with the bird, then absorb the power to defeat bill o'reilly, you must make it into a chick-fil-a sandwich. >> for god's sake. >> yes. >> no! that is completely absurd. >> do you want to win? >> i do want to win. >> then let the training begin. all right! ahh -- >> by the way, you can stream the o'reilly/stewart debate for

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